Move to keep Valley View public for 2 years fails

GOSHEN — A resolution to fund Orange County's nursing home for another two years failed by a single vote in the county Legislature Thursday.

BY NATHAN BROWN

GOSHEN — A resolution to fund Orange County's nursing home for another two years failed by a single vote in the county Legislature Thursday.

The proposal, which failed 10-11, would have made funding the Valley View Center for Nursing Care and Rehabilitation for the second year dependent on improvement in its finances during the first year, said Roxanne Donnery, D-Highland Falls, its original sponsor. The county has said it will sever ties with Valley View's current management at the end of the year, and nursing home supporters hope new administration and concessions by the Civil Service Employees Association will make the home more solvent.

Orange County Executive Ed Diana's budget proposal funds Valley View only through Feb. 1, with the idea being the Legislature would vote to sell it before then. They voted last week to fund it for all of 2013. Diana vetoed that; lawmakers will vote next week on whether to override the veto.

Legislator Mike Anagnostakis, R-Newburgh, said the home is only 86 percent full today, compared with 95 percent, on average, in the three years before, which he blamed on doubts as to whether it will stay open.

"Before people come, they need to know mom and dad are going to have a place to go next year," Legislator Thomas Pahucki, D-Goshen, said.

Anagnostakis said he expects Diana, who is running for re-election next year, to lose, and that the home needs a year under another administration to get back on track. "This is a ship he's run into the ground," he said.

But Legislator Patrick Berandinelli, R-Newburgh, said the proposal didn't include any dates to use as benchmarks for improvement. "You can't run an organization on ifs," he said.

Legislator R.J. Smith, R-Pine Bush, said he supports funding Valley View for another year, but that the focus should be on reaching a deal with the union. The CSEA said about a month ago that it would agree to more than $3 million in concessions if the Legislature agreed to keep it open for two years, but there isn't a deal in place.

"There's work to be done and we're sitting here arguing over this," he said.

The next Valley View vote will be on the veto override. The Legislature voted 14-5 last week to fund the home for a year; 14 votes are needed to override a veto. Several legislators who voted against the two-year proposal said they still support funding it through the end of 2013.

nbrown@th-record.com

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